17/05/2015

Malaysia’s Asia Championship
Qualifiers 2015 is happening this weekend and I scrubbed Round 1 of Single
Elimination. This is going to be one short post but no ranting. It’s obviously
salty to have your goals scratched out by reality as early as the first round
however any competitive YGO player understands the potential risk of dropping
out early. Regardless, how well you have prepared yourself. It wasn’t a total
waste of a day since I managed to grab some tasty loots and having a few laughs
with distant friends is always a good way to grind off any sort of bad
aftertaste. Here’s how my match went:

ROUND 1 (YANG ZING)

Game 1: Opponent went first and
set three cards and ended. I opened with Goblindbergh, A Hero Lives, Mystical
Space Typhoon x2, Fiendish Chain, and drew an E-Emergency Call. Made my move
with AHL into Stratos but was met with Skill Drain which of course I replied
with MST and my opponent flipped a second copy which caught me by surprise. No
brainer, second copy of MST happened and here’s the great twist; he flipped a
third copy of Skill Drain on me and I died from there. Damn…

Game 2: I went first but my nigga Dark Law wasn’t around to bring the heat.
Game progressed into a grindy pace but I was eventually able to play
Dimensional Fissure effectively disabling his monster’s abilities together with
that broken spawn-spam-splash trap card Yang Zing has.

Game 3: Dude set a few cards and ended. I did practically the same thing since
the only relevant cards I had at that moment was Vanity’s Emptiness and
Compulsory Evacuation Device which was quickly rendered useless by Harpie’s
Feather Duster. Skill Drain happened again but MST solved the first copy. No
action for me because a second piece of IMBA cardboard named Skill Drain practically
broke the game for me. Eventually, I tried a few comeback plays with Summoner
Monk (Lance-ed it) into Shadow Mist flipping it down with Book of Moon for Mask
Change. But it was all pointless. My opponent’s back-rows consist of Mistake,
Skill Drain, Imperial Iron Wall, and a set Torrential Tribute.

Being a sore loser is part of
improving (not the kind that blames everything on someone else or luck.) Re-evaluating
factors and decisions is the best way to move on from a defeat, learning from
defeat as they say. I examined the match in my head over and over again but
couldn’t move on from the first game where a play-set of Skill Drains murdered
me. Was it a mistake or just balls? That decision brought first blood for my
opponent, I am not here to diss or rant, having said that, again I pondered on
the argument whether it was a misplay which went unpunished or was it pure
instinctive guts crafting a high risk-high return tactic? It was a bad beat
without a doubt but what happened really got my mind going places thus why I chose
to name this post The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance? I have no answer for that
situation at the moment. What do you think? Thanks for reading!

23/03/2015

After an extended leave of absence from locals, I finally
decided to drag my lazy bones and head out to what would unknowingly be a most
wondrous afternoon of slaughter-slash-Yugioh. Most of you are probably aware of
the upcoming Yugioh Open Tournament Singapore and the many regionals held all
around Asia, today was one of those regionals in Malaysia’s very own Gamers
Arena. Upon my arrival I immediately spotted three Malaysian titans; Andrew
Abercrombie (HLG) who plays with precision, accuracy, and tears duelists to
pieces without even them knowing it, Zack Wonder Boy (2013 Worlds Rep) is one
who can outplay A-A hands with wits and luck, and of course for this massacre
to be complete the People’s Champion Sung Lee (2012 Worlds Rep) had to be
present. Let’s get into it. Oh, I ran Heroes (Terran) because it was the only
deck I had.

ROUND 1 (Satellarknights)

Game One: Opponent went first summoning a 1800 ATK Foolish
Burial, milled Deneb, set a Trap, and ended. Dude’s one Trap (Fiendish Chain)
met my MST and I guess it just didn’t worked for them. I had A Hero Lives,
Goblindbergh, E-Emergency Call, the rest was OTK.

Game Two: Dude summoned Deneb and searched Altair with one
set card. Played the grinder’s game a bit with Stratos+Vanity and took that
round to flex my Yugioh muscles. Eventually, A Hero Lives had to happen.

OO

(1-0)

ROUND 2 (Zombies)

Dimas from Jakarta (Indonesia), I apologize for not being
able to share my deck-list with you due to all the tournament hassle. If you
happen to miraculously read my blog feel free to drop a comment and I’ll hook
you up with the list. Any of my readers who know him please relay this message
for me. Thanks!

Game One: I went first and had Dark Law on the field
terrorizing him. After a few turns, Dark Law ate a Mirror Force and I had to
clone my nigga but it ate another Mirror Force. Both our hands weren’t great so
we were forced to grind it out but eventually I appear victorious. Mezuki,
Goblin Zombie, and Uni-Zombie is rad.

Game Two: My opponent went first and Uni-Zombied millions of
Goblin Zombies. Fucking Zerg! At one point he made Black Rose Dragon and nuked
my field (Zergs with nuclear, fucking A…) Having forced to dig deep, I went
full-blown Japanese and played technical Yugioh but soon realized my shovel
wasn’t big enough to dig myself out from this massive crater Black Rose Nuclear
Dragon buried me in. Wrecked~

Game Three: I went first and Dark Law cause he’s cool like
that (still had to die to Mirror Force though.) Déjà vu happened again and we
both found ourselves in similar grind scenarios which Dimas gained advantage
through constant top-decks. I saw Hahpyi no Hanebyouki (NOT HANEBOUKI Konami
should definitely change it to Hanebyouki instead), Dark Hole, Monster Reborn,
and more.

It came to a point where I was staring down Beelze of the
Diabolic Dragon with no immediate outs. I went into my pet Dark Rebellion XYZ
Dragon for some massive comeback plays but the defining moment was went Dimas
got greedy and turned his DEF-positioned Beelze to poke for 1500 ATK trying to
cut the game short. With zero back-rows to deal with I top-decked Instant
Fusion (2000 LPs left) and Number 101 for the win. I don’t have Castel, I suck.

OXO

(2-0)

ROUND 3 (Heroes)

Game One: Karma is a fickle-minded mistress. My opponent
went first and opened the optimum Hero play, Number 16: Shock Master (locking
Spell) backed by Vanity’s Emptiness. So, yeah, long story short I got Karma-ed
and scoop.

Game Two: Karma is a fickle-minded bitch. My turn to go
first and guess who ate Number 16+Dark Law+Vanity? Yup.

Game Three: Dude went first and I prayed with every
celestial credits I have left not to get Karma-ed. My heart can’t take it even
though it’s just Yugioh. I could have died of heart attack AND HE DID NOT HAVE
THAT OP PLAY!!! He Stratos searched Shadow Mist, set one, end. My turn came and
I took some time to slow roll my opponent because I am an asshole (I admit.)
AHL into Shadow Mist to bait that Fiendish Chain and it happened (I had Mask
Change in hand), Stratos+Kagetokage searched Bubbleman, killed his Airman,
during Main Phase 2 it was practically game. Number 16+Dark Law+Vanity cancer,
you will be missed.

XOO

(3-0)

ROUND 4 (Wonder Boy’s Nekroz)

Game One: I held onto my OTK/OP COMBO hand while I was
facing Djinn Lock with no outs. Something broke in my mind.

Game Two: Remember how Karma is a fickle-minded mistress?
Yeah, I went first but could not cancer Malaysian Titan Zack with OP plays
because Kagetokage and Blazeman were best buddies (they chill together a lot.)
My Japanese kicked in as i Fudo Yuusei-ed my way to the best possible play to survive. So, Blazeman it was. I milled Shadow Mist and
grabbed my other nigga Stratos and plotted an incredibly cancerous Turn Two
play while imagining a dramatic scene where I screamed ITTE SHINE while going
for game next turn. How could I be wrong? I had Vanity’s Emptiness and
Compulsory Evacuation Device backing me up. I sensed a rattled titan so I was
convinced. But an IMBA top-deck changed rewrote my soon-to-be prolific moment.
Yeah, you guessed it. It was one of the Holy/Unholy Trinity, Hahpyi no Hanebyouki.
YUGIOH!!! The titan proceeded to force fed a Djinn-Reversal-Lock and something
definitely broke inside my mind.

XX

(3-1)

ROUND 5 (Heroes)

Game One: Dude made paper mache plays and I OTKed him.

Game Two: Dude made paper mache plays again and I OTKed him
again.

OO

(4-1)

I made the playoffs and I wanted revenge but Zack Wonder Boy
died to Atlanteans. Top Four consisted of Andrew Abercrombie, People’s Champion
Sung Lee, an Atlantean Randy (who eventually won AHAHAHAHA PRICELESS YUGIOH),
and the only Terran left alive (me.)

Game Two: Sung Lee is a seasoned champ and he knows polite
mind games better than anyone else in Malaysia’s Yugioh community. I took first
turn and immediately went into my Japanese-mode where I take on an
Iceman-Johnny Chan-look. My hand consisted of Goblindbergh, Kagetokage, Shadow
Mist, and Vanity’s Emptiness (the rest was not important.) I have the OP play so
I went for it but upon revealing Kagetokage after Normal Summoning
Goblindbergh, Sung Lee dropped a big Maxx “C” on me with a malicious evil impression
yet still able to masked it with politeness. Man, this sucks.

The correct play was to stop attempt to bluff the nuts but
you can only win that much with grinding. When you play a great player it
matters even more to show that you can rattle his or her cage. You need that
extra set of balls. At this point, it was shove or fold for me, the Japanese me
would have played textbook, but it hit me that I grew up in Brooklyn. I am from
Brooklyn. In Brooklyn, we don’t do rattle, we certainly never run, and we never
will. Sung Lee took three free cards effortlessly without knowing that I had a
hold on his mind. Number 16 (lock Spell)+Vanity OP, enough said.

Game Three: The champ went first with no Yugioh Mothership
Core plays (he’s titled.) I was holding a joker hand. The could-be-would-be
kinda hand. I had Vanity’s Emptiness, CED, Fiendish Chain, Monster Reborn,
Instant Fusion, and drew into Soul
Charge. The only play I had was to call it strong with my only advantage was having
titled him and so I did. A couple of draw-and-pass went by (I still don’t have
monsters.) Eventually the tension broke with Sung Lee going for Infinity (Solar
Wind Jammer+CyDRA Drei) but Fiendish Chain backed with Compulse stopped his
tracks. Going back into draw-and-pass and finally I drew into a monster, my
favourite suicide jet bomber Goblindbergh. He had one set cards and the cancer
wasn’t far away for me so I Reborn-ed his Cyber Dragon Drei, summoned
Goblindbergh, whacked for 3200, and during Main Phase 2 my own version of
Mothership Core was insight, however, a Book of Moon completely flipped the
board (floored my Goblindbergh.)

Sung Lee’s turn came and he went for the Chimeratech
Fortress play effectively making my Vanity dead when he added two Galaxy
Soldiers into the equation but Book of Moon saved me from a legit Infinity
threat. I took 2000 from Fortress (CyDra+Drei) and when my turn arrived I drew
a dead Mask Change however I held my fort with Evilswarm Exciton Knight through
Soul Charging Noden into Goblindbergh. I set Mask Change. The champ had zero
hand cards but I knew he would have access to a free CyDra through his dead
Cyber Dragon Core. He had five outs, 3 OOPArts Golden Shuttle and 2 Cyber
Repair Plant. Sure enough salvation came through the form of a fucking ancient
alien golden jet. Sure enough he went for Infinity absorbed my Verzbuth and
swing for 2900. My only out at this moment was Stratos. Unfortunately, Karma’s
a bitch. I topped the single copy MST I left inside. GGWP I scooped, we shook
hands, and Sung Lee went on to scrub finals. YUGIOH!!!

I ended up in third place and salvaged my day by getting a
UR Clear Wing Synchro Dragon from one of the seven booster packs I won. Moral
of the story, I need Castel and Terran sucks (Heroes OP if you OP.) ToSsGirL
should have piloted Protoss as her name indicated. The end. Blasted Meg &
Dia when I wrote this (irrelevant for fun line.) I hope you enjoy this piece and
thank you for spending time here. Till next time people.

13/02/2015

Yuki Usagi is a massive
game-balancer joining the ranks of Effect Veiler and Maxx “C” and without a
doubt will be making its debut very soon. This card is a nice option for a wide
range of use due to how generalize the game is right now and having a hand trap
against Pendulum Scales is indeed much more reliable in comparison to backrows.
Being a Light monster and a Tuner basically gives it the same functions as
Effect Veiler held (Light fodder and such) plus Emergency Teleport having
access to it opens up a variety of different tactics. I like how Yuki Usagi
enables E-Tele to be use similar to a Trap card. The lightweight part about
Usag, it doesn’t negate the monster’s effect so it’s somewhat subpar against
monsters like Stratos or Atum. A one-for-one trade is good but a lot more can
be said otherwise.

Galaxy Cyclone is downright abusive
if not a bully. It gives you the similar advantage Breakthrough Skill provides
but what really stands out is how players using this card now have constant
access to a MST-esque card at their disposal against Pendulum Scales, face-up
Traps/Spells. Galaxy Cyclone not being a Quick-Play card is something to be
thankful about so is the limitation it has for not being able to activate both
effects in the same turn. However, the latter’s restriction can easily be
bypass just by having another copy of it in your Graveyard. Talk about
redefining strategies.

I am a big fan of the Cyber
Dragon archetype but whether or not the strategy will achieve Meta success is
still up for debate. Cyber Dragon Infinity is a neat addition to the deck’s
arsenal. What I like about it? Infinity gives the deck a strong opening move.
For example, go into Infinity with a set Vanity’s Emptiness and you are golden
(in some sense.) All you need is three cards for the example combo to work. Despite
all the hype Infinity gotten, Chimeratech Rampage Dragon somehow appealed much
more to me. Free backrow destruction, Foolish Burial more fodders, and
additional attacks to clear the board. What’s important is Rampage opens the
option for players to abuse Overload Fusion and it’s a Level 5. Power Bond into
Cyber Twin Dragon, Overload Fusion into Chimeratech Rampage Dragon, the rest is
up to your imagination. In a way, Rampage plays a more important role for CyDra
OTK to be competitively relevant.

Last but not least, Neptabyss the Atlantean Prince. One word, BROKEN. This card just gave Atlantean Mermails
another way to one card OTK with Deep Sea Diva. No matter how I look at it
Neptabyss looks more like a princess to me. This concludes today’s post. CyDRA
OTK is now my default casual deck and hopefully i can find a reason to visit
locals soon. Thank you for reading! If you have anything to share, please do so by commenting below.

24/01/2015

Is Nekroz of Sophia worth
playing? A hard question to answer indeed. The nifty Vanity-esque effect from
hand is hard to pass off since all Nekroz Spells currently available allows you
to fetch another Spell for free. It is kinda sick to able to waste opponent’s
Mask Change or Shaddoll Fusion. The fact that Nekroz has the option to run a
one-sided hand trap version of Archlord Krystia which is searchable through
Nekroz of Brionac is downright demoralizing. However, by relying on Sophia’s
effect players effectively bear the cost of constantly depleting their
resources to gain temporary control. It’s a known fact that most Nekroz pilots
run only six Ritual Spells in the current competitive scene. To incorporate
Nekroz of Sophia into your arsenal might see that you increase the amount of
Spells played which one way or another brings upon the predicament of opening
or drawing into dead cards.

Assuming players utilizes Nekroz
of Sophia with six Ritual Spells in their deck, indirectly they are forced to
play a rush or OTK style due to the limitations with resources. No doubt the
control option is available but the lack of resources will begin to creep in
once the match enters midlife or late-game (not accounting for the nuts the
opposition could possibly have yet. ) For what it’s worth, at the very least,
Sophia is a magnificent last resort with her Trigger Effect. Who doesn’t like a
clean slate really? Though, again, choosing to make this move pushes you
further into a corner when you are already in deep shit. So far the cons weigh
much heavier than the pros. One thing to notice is how much Sophia’s Quick
Effect simplifies the game stage with one-for-one trades or an early minus
later turning into a plus (stopping Exceed/Synchro plays and running over weak monsters during
your turn.) IF there is no Main Phase 2 involved. Truth be told, having an Effect Veiler or Maxx "C" would warrant a safer bet.

What I am thankful for is this
card requires tributes belonging to different types from the field and don’t
come with the usual Nekroz Monster privilege of being free. Also, having
additional clause of preventing Normal and Special Summons after activating
it’s Trigger Effect is a good curb. Good job on Konami’s part for keeping the
card design healthy. Calling the thought of dealing with Sophia that is
accessible through Nekroz Kaleidomirror or Nekroz Cycle a mind-fuck is perhaps
an understatement. But I admit it is regrettable as well since it would have
propelled Nekroz mirror matches to a different level (skills and whatnots.)
Conclusion, would I play Nekroz of Sophia? Yes, probably as a tech or at two.
The answer to “is it worth playing question” though depends entirely on
individual perspectives. Put on your thinking cap I suppose? Once again, thank
you for spending time here and I hope you enjoyed the article!

22/01/2015

Prepared Explosives is one of
those cunning cards you see once in awhile. On first glance, it seems to be
another new addition to Chain Burn strategies. With more strategies
disregarding Life Points to obtain their winning conditions, Prepared
Explosives’ effectiveness deserves some mention regardless whether it makes its
debut in the competitive scene or not. Chipping away Life Points from decks
like Qliphorts or Heroes is always a good thing since it allows big pushes to
be feared more in accounts of surprise burns. Sort of like how Satellarknight
Sham plays a role in their strategy, this card provides you with the option of
added pressure towards your opponent’s decision making. 300 chips for each card
they control can build up to be quite massive since Meta strategies nowadays
usually comes with huge front or back rows.

With an additional effect of
stealing 1000 Life Points when it is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard makes
Prepared Explosives a silent scammer if you will. Robbing off opponent’s Mystical
Space Typhoon, Harpie’s Feather Duster and LPs seems like a sweet deal (chain
it to MST/Duster snatches 1300 LPs effortlessly.) Sounds like a possible game ender maybe? That
would be exaggerating but nonetheless an option when one chooses to utilize Prepared
Explosives in such manner. But where this card truly shines as a tech side is
during late-game or Sudden Death/Extra Turn stages. Players are more likely to
commit onto their board to either push for damage or bluff for control (setting
fake back rows) making Prepared Explosives a huge surprise when resolved
successfully. Similar to how top players siding Rainbow Life to counter OTKs or
simply to gain Life Point advantage, Prepared Explosives gives you the ability
to further deplete opponent’s LPs. Perhaps a better example to compare
Explosives to would be Gagaga Gunman.

This card is a simplified version
of Gagaga Gunman’s effect and Rainbow Life’s main objective. Albeit it isn’t as
versatile as Rainbow Life or Threatening Roar when it comes to tactics and
functions but it is an easier card to use during said stages of the match.
Whether or not it could be as good as theory says depends entirely of timing.
However, taking in account of turn limitations during Sudden Death, pressure
can be a big contributor in deciding the victor. Any extra damage is always
welcomed. Somehow I like the idea of screwing with people’s mind during Sudden
Death stages. Commit and risk getting burned for nothing, don’t commit opponent
rushes for colossal amount of damage. Do you think it’s worth siding? Leave
your opinions below and thank you for reading!

21/01/2015

Why did Heavy Storm got banned in
the OCG? One word, Qliphorts. It sounds ridiculous however it does not change
the fact that Storm can easily become one of Qliphorts’ nuts or simply put
winning condition. The scenario can be a traditional Storm-OTK or more complex
plays like blowing your own Saqlifice and searching whatever outs necessary at
that particular moment which inevitably leads back to an One-Turn-Kill. How
Qliphorts can easily break-even with Qliphort Scout or Saqlifice after Storm
hits the field is probably another reason why Heavy Storm got the hammer. Whether
it is grind or going in for the kill, Qliphorts profits more from Storm. Ultimately,
Heavy Storm is a combo enabler for Qliphorts (Pendulum Scales going into Extra
Deck instead of Graveyard, very comical indeed.)

Going further into this topic of
discussion, why wasn’t Giant Trunade brought back instead of Harpie’s Feather
Duster? Bringing back Trunade doesn’t help in any way and perhaps could hurt
the competitive scene even more thanks to the popularity of continuous Spell
and Trap cards these days. Taking Qliphorts as an example again, activate Scout
and then Trunade it back for another activation gives the controller two “free”
cards that can lead to a number of different scenarios. Of course, assuming
there is no response to Scout’s activation. Recycling cards like Fire
Formation-Tenki or Call of the Haunted for more pluses can be quite cancerous
as well or the mere use of Trunade to disable whatever floodgate cards you have
activated, combo off, and set them back, is just sick. In a way, Giant Trunade
doesn’t provide any balance for the game.

That is why Harpie’s Feather
Duster is a necessary evil. Yes, it is one-sided but at the very least it gives
off that fear factor which Heavy Storm has so gladly held all these ages. The
mere existence of Duster puts off the idea of degenerate plays like what we saw
with Dino Rabbits or Verz. Power moves of similar pattern are still
particularly common that is why players should be thankful for Duster. When you
are not at the receiving end that is. It will take awhile before most attune
themselves with the psychological block Harpie’s Feather Duster instills and
that’s where we differentiate amateurs and pros I suppose (agree to disagree?)
So in the end why did Konami brought back Duster? The answer is simple, there is
no other option. At least until they design another Spell card with functions and
impacts akin to Storm and Duster (sounds like a waste of time?)

Personally, I voted for Cold Wave
instead of Giant Trunade or Harpie’s Feather Duster. But applying the same
logic as Trunade, I don’t see how Cold Wave can balance the scales. It’s
basically do-or-die with Wave or Trunade. One easy example would be a combo
deck getting slammed by Maxx “C”. Now would you really want to be put under
such circumstances? Having said that, there are “cute” plays with Cold Wave
that could possibly balance off the board. For example, Evilswarm Exciton
Knight. But such tactics are rather situational and if you need to pull it
practically means you are already behind so it ends up being a do-or-die
scenario (and Effect Veiler completely breaks you.) The additional clause of
not being able to play Spells after activating Cold Wave is suicidal not to
mention. What the hell are Shaddoll, Heroes, or Nekroz suppose to do after Cold
Waving? Here’s my two cents. Thank you for taking the time to read! Please
comment if you have anything to add. Thank you again!

07/01/2015

Experience and instincts, to be
honest, they are bastard stepparents you wish you never had. Here's the problem
with experience, you only get it after you need it. It doesn't help you right
now and it only teaches you enough to help you the next time. I'm talking about
the kind of experience that comes from having hot hands then go on tilt and
finally you tip over the fucking toilet flushing down three stacks of high
society moments earlier was lining up in front of you. The kind that tells you
if your girlfriend pushes you to “unnecessary” directions, decisions there is
probably a good reason but you're too dumb to comprehend at that moment.

And then there's instincts. It's
like catching a glimpse at that big right hook swinging from your blind spot.
You see it coming, at the same time, you can't do jackshit about it and the
next thing you know you're smacked face down onto that cold rough asphalt. You
know, the kind that makes you queasy like De La Hoya walking back into
Pacquiao. Like that time you didn't study for your “future defining” finals and
you think the answer is A but your instincts tells you it's B and you're left
hanging dry eventually you close your eyes, breathe, tap into your inner
psyche, and you visualize a clear C in your mind. Yeah, we all know how that
ends.

The point is victory loves
preparation (Amat Victoria Curam.) That's where you can relate all this with
Yugioh. You probably heard it a million times before about how play-testing is
half the battle won and all that other whatnots. The truth is, play-testing is
important because that is where you can comfortably fail with the least of
consequences (or cost.) When you scrubbed a tournament and try to comfort yourself by saying
"It's alright at least i gained new experiences." is probably the
worst kind of self-pity and justification you can feed yourself. Hey, K'yde i
still don't see your point here! It's simple, experience and instincts they
don't help you with today, only with tomorrow.

There is no other way around it.
That's where play-testing comes into the equation. Learn everything you can
about your enemy (the Meta) and yourself (your deck of choice) during testing
stages. Since experiences and instincts only help you with decision-making
tomorrow choose to fail today when the cost is low compared to tomorrow when
the cost is higher. Albeit there is always the caveat where luck plays a part,
however, through experiences and instincts you learn how to deal with it. Or at
rare times feel the storm coming before it hits. Remember that time when you
wanted to make "IMBA PLAY-A" but your guts can't shut up about
"IMBA PLAY-B"? How do you decide? The only rational, logical answer
comes from personal experience whether or not to trust your instincts or go
with the textbook best play. Either way, you only gains all these insights
through experiences.

If you are a competitive player, this is not even a choice. Ask any business-minded people and they’ll tell you
investing early is key. Not when the bubble burst. In short, failing early
teaches you how to use your brain and when to trust your heart. If you’re gonna
suck during play-testing not when you are making a run for a title. Thank you
for reading! I'm still unsure what to write about for my next post and if you
have any requests please leave them down on the comments section. Will see if i
am capable of tackling your topic of choice. Thank you again!